Annal:2007 Agatha Award for Best Novel

A Fatal Grace: A Three Pines Mystery

Louise Penny

• 2007 Agatha–Novel winner
• Score: 10.57

When Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is called to investigate a woman’s death, it doesn’t take long for him to realize that no love was lost on Miss de Poitiers. But even if everyone hated her—her husband, lover, and daughter among them—how is it that no one saw her get electrocuted in the middle of a frozen lake in the center of town?

Gamache digs beneath the surface of Three Pines to find where the real secrets are buried. But other troubles lie ahead for the detective. It seems he has some enemies of his own…and with the coming of the bitter winter winds, something far more chilling is in store.

Hard Row: A Deborah Knott Mystery

Margaret Maron

• 2007 Agatha–Novel nominee
• Score: 6.57

As Judge Deborah Knott presides over a case involving a barroom brawl, it becomes clear that deep resentments over race, class, and illegal immigration are simmering just below the surface in the countryside. An early spring sun has begun to shine like a blessing on the fertile fields of North Carolina, but along with the seeds sprouting in the thawing soil, violence is growing as well. Mutilated body parts have appeared along the back roads of Colleton County, and the search for the victim’s identity and for that of his killer will lead Deborah and her new husband, Sheriff’s Deputy Dwight Bryant, into the desperate realm of undocumented farm workers exploited for cheap labor.In the meantime, Deborah and Dwight continue to adjust to married life and to having Dwight’s eight-year-old son, Cal, live with them full time. When another body is found, these newlyweds will discover dark truths that threaten to permanently alter the serenity of their rural surroundings and their new life together.

Her Royal Spyness: Solves Her First Case

Rhys Bowen

• 2007 Agatha–Novel nominee
• Score: 6.57

Her ridiculously long name is Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, daughter to the Duke of Atholt and Rannoch. And she is flat broke. As the thirty-fourth in line for the throne, she has been taught only a few things, among them, the perfect curtsey. But when her brother cuts off her allowance, she leaves Scotland, and her fiancéŽ Fish-Face, for London, where she has:

a) worked behind a cosmetics counter-and gotten sacked after five hours
b) started to fall for a quite unsuitable minor royal
c) made some money housekeeping (incognita, of course), and
d) been summoned by the Queen to spy on her playboy son.

Then an arrogant Frenchman, who wants her family’s 800-year-old estate for himself, winds up dead in her bathtub. Now her most important job is to clear her very long family name.

The Penguin Who Knew Too Much: A Meg Langslow Mystery

Donna Andrews

• 2007 Agatha–Novel nominee
• Score: 6.57

Okay, maybe there are people in Antarctica with penguins in their basements, but in Virginia? Only Meg’’s dad could manage that one. A body down there—well, that’s somewhat more likely.

In the small southern town of Caerphilly, rumors fly quickly, and all the other well-meaning citizens who have agreed to take in zoo animals are now worried that they might be stuck with their guests indefinitely. So when Meg’’s dad generously offers to help out anyone who can no longer care for their four-legged charges, a parade of wild creatures begins to make Meg and Michael’s newly renovated house look more like Noah’s ark.

Meg and Michael have been planning to elope in order to avoid the elaborate wedding their mothers have begun to organize—a plan that’s threatened by both the murder investigation and the carnival of animals. The only way to set things right, Meg decides, is to identify both their uninvited visitor and the killer who put him in their basement.

Murder With Reservations: A Dead-End Job Mystery

Elaine Viets

• 2007 Agatha–Novel nominee
• Score: 6.57

Helen Hawthorne has a knack for keeping a low profile. But in South Florida, it’s going to get a lot harder to fly under the radar…

Working at Sybil’s Full Moon Hotel in Fort Lauderdale keeps Helen safe and sane. But when a maid is found dead in a Dumpster, those days just might be over. Dead bodies mean another chance for the cops to find her. To make matters worse, her ex-husband is hot on her trail. Sadly, the cops don’t seem to care much about a murdered maid-but they take notice of her coworker’s shady story. If Helen doesn’t manage to dodge their questions and shake off her ex, it could be checkout time.